


Enchanted Tent, Declarations of Love, and More Soulmate Discussion

by Diary



Series: London Spy: Hogwarts Edition [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, London Spy
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Bechdel Test Fail, Canon Gay Character, Established Danny Holt/Alex Turner, Established Relationship, Friendship/Love, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Implied Sexual Content, Late Night Conversations, M/M, POV Danny Holt, POV Male Character, POV Queer Character, Romance, Sex Talk, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6140226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crossover. Sequel to Lake, Stars, and Conversations on Soulmates. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enchanted Tent, Declarations of Love, and More Soulmate Discussion

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own London Spy or Harry Potter.

Hearing his mum scream, Danny winces.

Alex’s owl, Darby, doesn’t like Danny’s parents, and his way of expressing this-

Steeling himself, Danny goes into the kitchen, listens to the lecture about wasted food and money, and finally manages to escape.

In his room, he says, “You know, she isn’t wrong. If you don’t stop destroying perfectly good food, me and Alex are going to have to find a different owl for our letters.”

Darby hoots indignantly.

Handing him a lemon sherbet, Danny takes the letter.

Not completely pacified, Darby flies off.

Curling up in bed, Danny reads.

He and Sara just talk on the phone, and the letters he and Pavel exchange have always been more like notes. Alex, though, writes him proper letters, and even knowing loads of people do this, he can’t help but feel it’s special, and despite the persistent fear his letters aren’t as good, he works hard to write his own to Alex.

Whenever he’s done, he always locks them in a music box he found when he was little. His mum had wanted to throw it out, but thinking it beautiful, he’d hidden it. Once he discovered his magic, he’d put an unbreakable charm and an alarm on it. Later on, Pavel had taught him an incantation he promised would make a shielding charm activate if it was exposed to water or fire.

After he’s done reading, he tries to put together his own letter but can’t stop his thoughts from wandering.

He and Alex haven’t seen each other since the end of last term, and he thinks, What if Alex has found himself fancying some girl or other boy?

Danny isn’t sure Alex would write to him about it.

He finds it hard to imagine Alex would start something with someone and not tell him, but he doesn’t like the thought Alex wants to but is stopping himself because of Danny, either.

Danny doesn’t trust himself to lay his fears out in a letter and say, ‘Hey, it’s okay if you want to see other people. I just want you to be happy,’ in a way Alex would understand.

Looking at his calendar, he wishes school would hurry and start.

For all he wants to see Alex and all he’s never done particularly well with his schoolwork, Danny has always preferred life at Hogwarts to summers with his parents.

…

Finally, it’s time to go back.

Sara shows up in a car full of muggle boys, and his parents look at him as if he and Sara are both insane.

He imagines, if Sara were a normal teenage girl, her riding around in a car full of muggle boys would be worrying, but she isn’t afraid to place powerful curses on any boy who dares try anything.

“At least, you won’t have to take me,” he points out. “Bye, Mum, Dad. Have a good year, yeah?”

His mum helps him carry his trunk out to the car and put it in the boot. “Are you coming home for Christmas?”

“Probably not,” he answers. “I’ll write when it comes around.”

He tries not to notice the relief in her eyes. Part of him wants so badly to hug her and kiss her cheek, but in the past, doing so has always left him feeling even colder and lonelier than before.

…

At the platform, he sees Alex is waiting by himself, and he takes a moment just to look.

Somehow, Alex has gotten even more handsome over the summer, and he’s definitely filled out a bit.

Kissing Sara, he says, “I’ll find you and Pavel later, yeah?”

“Good luck, love,” she tells him.

He walks over and touches Alex’s hand.

Alex jumps, looks over, and then, looks at Danny in such a way Danny feels his breath catch. “Danny.”

Nodding, Danny pulls Alex behind a post and kisses him. Alex responds, and when they break apart, Danny leans against him. “It’s good to see you, again.”

His lips are tingling, everything is almost dizzying, and even with the thoughts of Alex potentially liking others in the corner of his mind, what he wants more than anything is to find an even more secluded place and have a proper snogging session.

“I- I promised Professor Flitwick I’d help the prefects monitor the younger students,” Alex tells him.

“That’s alright,” Danny says. “I’ll sit with Pavel and Sara. We can get together at mealtime, soon?”

Alex nods and kisses him again.

…

It isn’t until the weekend they get some truly private time.

They go for a walk and end up sitting near the Black Lake. Thankfully, if the giant squid is around, he isn’t annoyed as he usually is at Danny’s presence near the water.

“How was your summer,” he asks.

“I missed you and Hogwarts,” Alex answers.

Grinning, he squeezes Alex’s hand. “Um, anyone interesting around? I mean, did you-”

I really should have planned this better, he laments.

“Like, I can never hang out with Sara and Pavel, but sometimes, there are some muggle kids I meet in the park or around and we do stuff together. Did you do anything with anyone?”

“There aren’t any people around our age at home,” Alex answers. “Occasionally, our housekeeper takes me to the cinema, but most of the time, I work on my schoolwork.”

Through his relief, he feels a pang of pity for Alex and irritation at Mr and Mrs Turner. Thank goodness for the housekeeper, whoever she or he is, he thinks.

“Feel free to say no, but would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? If not, I’ll go with Pavel, but if you do, we don’t have to hold hands or anything.”

“Not Sara?”

Danny shrugs. “She doesn’t really like Hogsmeade. Whenever she wants something, she’ll task me or Pavel with getting it.”

“I’d like to go with you.”

Grinning, Danny says, “Great!”

…

A week later, Danny is in a bad mood.

Sitting under a tree, he tells Alex, “I have detention. Sorry I can’t make it.”

“Detention?”

Sighing, he kicks dirt and leans against the tree. “I didn’t finish my potions homework, and bloody Snape-”

“You told me you were going to finish it after we got done with flying over the forbidden forest,” Alex says with a frown. “I offered to help you.”

There’s a look of hurt in his Alex’s eyes and something approaching accusation in his tone.

Danny knows Alex is sensitive, and usually, he tries to protect this part, but right now, he feels irritation and betrayal of his own running through him. “Yeah, well, things don’t always work out. I meant to.”

Alex doesn’t answer, and Danny knows he should stop.

He knows he almost never stops when he needs to and ends up regretting it later.

“Look,” he continues, “we have to talk. I’m not like you, Alex. I don’t care about homework and some of my lessons. Most of them, actually. If you want to join the list of people telling me all the reasons I should and why I’ll regret it and how I’m ruining my life, go ahead, but I’m not changing. I don’t see why everyone thinks grades are the most important thing, and I don’t believe homework does anyone any good, not really.”

He deflates some, but the look on Alex’s face only makes him feel worse.

“Anyway, I better not be late for my detention.”

Once he’s taken a few steps away, everything hits him, and he almost turns back.

He wants so badly to go sit back down, apologise, and try to make things right, but-

He resumes walking without looking back.

…

After his detention, he meets up with Pavel, and Pavel immediately asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Me and Alex had an argument. Except, no, that’s not completely accurate. I was annoyed about my detention, I think he was my annoyed about me saying I’d do my homework and then not, and this is going to come as a shock: I acted like an immature kid. He didn’t. And if I go jump in the lake, the giant squid will probably just nick my journal in punishment.”

Pavel wraps him in a hug.

Shuddering, he tries not to cry. “Why’d I do that? I knew better.”

“You need to meet up with him as soon as possible,” Pavel says.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“And I don’t think that was suggestion,” Pavel responds. “From everything I’ve seen of Turner, he’s a much better boyfriend than that prick. The best thing to do is try to sort this as quickly as possible. If you don’t, I’ll get involved.”

“Why do you always threaten that?”

“It’s not a threat,” Pavel answers.

Danny pinches him. Then, he snuggles closer. “Thanks, Pavel.”

…

He sends a note to Alex asking to meet on the astronomy tower after lights out and feels a mixture of complicated emotions bubbling inside of him when Alex sends one back agreeing.

…

“Are you still angry?”

The words are timid, and the look on Alex’s face is even worse.

“No!” Desperately, he reaches over to grab Alex’s hands. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Alex offers.

Shaking his head, Danny tentatively moves closer. “Alex, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was in a bad mood, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, and I shouldn’t have said I was going to work on my homework when I knew I might not.”

Alex’s body relaxes ever-so-slightly, but there’s still a tension.

“If- if you still want to be with me, I promise, I won’t lie, again, and I’ll try not to take my problems out on you.”

“I do,” Alex answers.

The relief is almost overwhelming.

“I just- don’t understand. The way you view homework and schoolwork.”

Danny sighs. Making sure to keep his voice calm, he says, “And I don’t understand yours. You’re smart, and you work hard. Those are great things. I’m not saying they aren’t. It’s just, to me, call me lazy or aimless or whatever else, I’ve never been that way. When I need to work to get something, I will, but I’d rather have fun or just hang about than put in effort for something I don’t care about.”

Alex moves closer. “Are we still together?”

“If you want us to be, yes,” Danny answers. “I was terrified you’d break things off after how I acted,” he confesses.

Shaking his head, Alex kisses him. “Last year, you said you didn’t think many people would actually want a perfect relationship. I’m one of them. Whatever problems we have, I want to try to get through them and be with you.”

“It’s the same with me,” he promises.

…

Most nights, instead of sleeping in the Hufflepuff dorm, Danny sleeps on a couch with Sara in the Gryffindor common room.

Pavel wakes them up at five in the morning. “Is your keeper sick,” he asks Sara.

They both blink at him in bewilderment.

Impatiently, he says, “If he is, we’ll have to share Danny, but since I’m already up, Slytherin gets him first. Our worthless keeper went and got jinxed!”

Sara pushes Danny off the couch, and uncaring whether Pavel catches him or not (he does), she curls back up and goes back to sleep.

“Since when am I on the Slytherin Quidditch team,” Danny tries to reasonably point out.

“We just need someone to fill in for practise,” Pavel says.

The cold air makes Danny jump.

“Don’t I even get some tea, first? Some pumpkin juice, at least? A coat?”

Pavel continues dragging him, and eventually, Danny somehow finds himself nibbling on some acid pops while sitting on a broom.

…

By the time the sun has risen, it’s warmer out, Danny has had some toast and orange juice and is functioning well enough to avoid falling of his broom.

Since he is mostly definitely not a keeper, however, being knocked off his broom is still a painful problem.

When practise finally ends, he strips off his shirt and surveys the damage. “Don’t you have members of your own house you could have dragged out to get bruised,” he asks Pavel.

“Yes, I’m going to wake a Slytherin up at five in the morning,” is Pavel’s sarcastic reply. “Because I want to join our worthless keeper in the hospital wing.”

“I may end up there,” Danny points out.

Shrugging, Pavel nods over at something. “There’s Turner. Go cry to him.”

Seeing Alex is walking alone, Danny does run over to him. “Hey!”

Alex stares. “You’re bruised.”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” he quickly assures him. Slipping his shirt back on, he explains, “The Slytherin team needed someone to fill in as keeper for practise, and Pavel volunteered me.”

Alex shifts, and Danny notices he seems to be having trouble deciding where he wants to look.

Oh, Danny thinks.

“Do you have anywhere you need to be right now?”

“No,” Alex answers.

Danny takes his hand.

…

Once they get to an area surrounded by trees, Danny takes off his shirt. “If you want me to put it back on, I will, but if you want to look, you can. I don’t mind.”

It takes several tries for Alex just to simply look.

Danny knows Alex must have seen other shirtless men and boys before, but he wonders if, after puberty, Alex was always afraid just to look and take them in.

Before he met Sara, Danny was vaguely confused by the notion of male chests being unremarkable while female chests were something kids shouldn’t see. After he heard her rants, though, he realised how truly unfair it was, and even though the two aren’t exactly related, he feels it even more strongly right now.

He’s certainly had his share of chests, mostly belonging to other boys, he’s liked looking at, but- no boy or girl should be afraid to look at other people. Leering and the like, he can get behind people being told off for (or in Sara’s case, cursed), but just looking and liking what’s seen, no. 

Alex reaches his hand out but looks for permission instead of touching.

Nodding, Danny says, “Yeah.”

Carefully, Alex traces the bruises and scans Danny with his eyes. “You should put a healing potion on them.”

“Probably,” he says, “but I’ll wait until Madam Pomfrey isn’t too busy with Pavel’s keeper.”

“I have some,” Alex quietly offers.

“Alright,” he brightly agrees. “Sounds good.”

…

Once they have the potion spread over the bruises, Alex abruptly asks, “Can I ask what all you’ve done with other boys?”

Danny suddenly has a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Trying to ignore it, he answers, “Well, first, not just boys. Just because I’ve always known I’m gay, that didn’t mean I didn’t want to try some things out with girls. And yeah, you can ask, and I’ll tell you, but not any names. They have a right to decide who they do and don’t want to know what they did.”

Alex nods.

“The most I ever did was have sex,” Danny continues. “The boyfriend I didn’t really have? That was one of my really bad choices. We did some other things before we got to that point, though. I’ve kissed people, snogged a few, and it’s gotten a little heavy with a few. Hands in certain places and all that.”

“Does my inexperience bother you?”

Surprised, Danny immediately assures him, “No!” Taking Alex’s hand, he continues, “I promise you, it doesn’t. I’m with you because I really like you, not because of anything we are or aren’t doing. And-” He hesitates. “There’s something sort of special about being the first person you’ve done things with. The things that you’ve decided you’re ready and willing to share. The things you aren’t ready for or just don’t want to, that’s fine. I’m sure there are things I wouldn’t want to do, either.”

Danny almost asks if Alex is bothered by the experience Danny does have, but he can’t bring himself to.

If Alex is, he imagines they’ll both realise it soon enough.

“The next time Pavel enlists you in Quidditch practise, could I watch?”

Leaning over to kiss him, Danny answers, “Sure. I’d love that.”

…

For a few months, everything is wonderful.

Then, the professors decide to start flooding everyone with exams.

Sara looks up from her homework. “Weren’t you and Alex supposed to meet tonight?”

“Exams,” he reminds her. “He’s studying. I probably should be, too, but-” He shrugs.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he answers. “If I expect him to keep quiet about how I handle these things, I can’t very well get annoyed when he decides to take his future seriously and devotes the time needed to studying.”

She gives him a look.

“They’ll be over eventually, and we’ll have time together.”

“Whatever you do, just don’t blow up at him again,” she orders.

If he weren’t afraid of disturbing her potion, he’d toss something at her.

…

Once exams finally start to wind down, he finds himself having a proper snog with Alex in an abandoned classroom.

It’s so good, a few times he realises his hands are starting to wander and his trousers are getting tighter and tighter.

Breaking away, he sidesteps Alex’s hands. “I need to take a minute,” he says.

“Okay,” Alex agrees.

Sitting down on a desk, Danny hastily assures him, “It’s brilliant!” Trying to get his heart under control, he explains, “A little too brilliant, actually.”

After he’s gotten himself under control, he takes a good look at Alex and discovers in surprised happiness Alex is flushed and a bit wild-eyed.

Sitting next to him, Alex asks, “Do you like the muggle prime minister?”

Shrugging, Danny answers, “I don’t really follow politics much. From what I’ve seen, she seems like she really cares about the country. My dad hates her. I’m not exactly sure why, but apparently, she said something about labour that he didn’t like. My mum always votes for men, never women. And she only votes for who she thinks is the most handsome.”

Alex can’t quite hide his look, and Danny laughs. “Oh, I promise, I’m right there with you. It’s one thing not to vote, it’s another thing to pick people to run the country because of things like that.”

“Will you vote in wizarding elections?”

“Probably not,” he answers. “You?”

Alex nods. “Frances and I disagree.”

“On you voting or on who you should vote for?”

“The latter.”

Personally, from what little Danny knows of Frances Turner, he’d trust Alex to make the right decision over her. It goes so far as: he’d prefer whoever Alex likes over whoever she likes without knowing anything about the respective candidates.

“I know I need to make decisions about what makes me happy and what I think is best for me,” Alex quietly tells him. “But it’s not always easy.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, but thank you.”

“If there is, just tell me,” Danny says. Leaning against Alex, he adds, “It’s not bad that you love your mum and dad.”

“I don’t love Charles.”

Trying not to let the shock show, Danny says, “That’s okay, too.”

Before he can ask, Alex’s alarm clock goes off.

Groaning, Danny gives him a quick kiss. “I hate the night patrols.”

They get up, and Alex opens the door. Danny carefully peeks out of it. “We’re clear.”

…

During the weekend, he starts, “About your dad- if you don’t want to talk about him, that’s fine. I was just wondering why you didn’t like him.”

“He and Frances have never loved one another,” Alex tells him. “He didn’t want her to have me. When I was younger, he ignored me, and when I got older, he talked unkindly about her and our housekeeper to me. Our housekeeper, Marie, used to be my nanny. Sometimes, I wonder if he’s even my biological father.”

Not sure how to respond, Danny simply squeezes his hand.

Alex kisses him.

He returns it but doesn’t deepen it.

Sometimes, it’s nice to keep it slow and enjoy the familiar, calmer sensations.

When they first started, he was afraid the sometimes sloppiness and messiness of it would bother Alex, but so far, this hasn’t turned out to be the case.

He sighs into it.

“What do we have here?”

They jump apart, and Danny finds himself looking at a gathering of boys.

His stomach clenches at the sight of one of them in particular.

“Turner? You and him? I never thought you, of all people, would sneak around with someone like him.”

Part of Danny burns at the words, but he’s not a fighter, and neither is Alex. He desperately tries to figure out how to get out of this situation without Alex being hurt.

“Danny is my boyfriend.”

If Danny weren’t terrified, he’d be ecstatic at the words.

There’s laughter and glares, and when he sees Pavel walking with some others nearby, he doesn’t even wait for the relief to settle. “Pavel!”

Pavel turns towards them and is striding over with his wand loosely held in his hand before the others can finish looking around.

“Danny. Turner,” he greets. “Hope no one has any ideas about bothering either of you. Gryffindor’s team wouldn’t stand a chance if Sara was expelled.”

“We both know she’d make you take the blame,” Danny says. He quickly stands up and pulls Alex with him. “Okay if we walk with you?”

“Of course,” Pavel answers. “Let’s go back to the castle.”

….

Near the Ravenclaw tower, Danny leans against a wall. “Thanks, Pavel. Could you give us some privacy?”

“If you aren’t in the Gryffindor tower in fifteen minutes, Sara and I will come find you.”

He nods and gives Pavel a quick hug.

Once Pavel is gone, he sinks to the floor.

Alex follows suit.

“Everyone is going to know about you, now,” Danny miserably points out. “If you-”

“Does that bother you?”

He suddenly has the feeling he needs to be careful in his response. “I’m not ashamed of you or us, Alex. But I do understand that this is all new to you. Whether you’re gay or something else, having other people know you like a boy- for some people, that’s a really big thing. I’ve always had Pavel and Sara. My parents could have been so much worse. The choices some people have to make- I can’t blame them. I can’t blame you if you think it best we stop seeing each other and you work on making the rumours die down.”

Alex looks at him. “You make me happy. I don’t want that taken away.”

He smiles. “As nice as that is, what happened earlier, what could have happened- I’m not sure. Most people who did things with me never got caught, and the few who did, they were able to play it off.”

“If we talk to Professor Flitwick or the deputy headmistress, surely, they can do something.”

Danny realises the idea might actually work. He’s not the only out student at Hogwarts, and however the professors personally feel, they do genuinely look out for said students, including him. Thinking back, he now remembers there have been a few times McGonagall stepped in to stop teasing, and she once told him, if anyone ever hurt him or tried to, he was to come to her.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Um, but we should talk about it later. If I keep Pavel and Sara waiting, they’re liable to get this week’s Quidditch match cancelled. Are you okay?”

Alex nods and helps him up.

They share a brief kiss, and then, Alex answers the door’s riddle and disappears inside the Ravenclaw tower.

…

He’d imagined holding Alex’s hand while they walked through Hogsmeade, but none of his daydreams came close to how wonderful it feels to actually do it.

…

When Christmas nears, Alex offers, “I could write to Frances and tell her I want to stay.”

Danny shakes his head. If it were just Frances, he thinks Alex might genuinely prefer staying, but Alex always looks forward to seeing Marie. “I’ll be fine. Some of the goblin carollers have been trying for years to teach me how to ice skate. This year might just be the year. And I promise I won’t open your present until Christmas.”

He’ll admit trying to get Sara and Pavel to open it for him wasn’t good on his part, but if the guilt ever gets too much, he’ll just remember how they absolutely refused.

Alex looks down for minute. “Do you think you and I will ever spend a Christmas together?”

It’s almost painful how much he hopes, but all he says is, “It’s a nice thought. Who knows what the future will bring?”

He wants to spend the rest of his life with Alex, but he knows sixteen-year-olds can get caught up in feelings and find them fading with age. He can’t imagine his will and hates the thought of it, but he’s gotten old enough to finally accept people like Alex who don’t believe in soulmates generally go on to have good relationships while romantics don’t.

What he can’t understand is why.

Romantics want it more, usually, and the ones willing to work- why is it people like him who always get their hearts broke?

Then, he imagines a heartbroken Alex and decides, Better me than him.

…

When Christmas is over, he and Alex find another abandoned classroom and snog until Alex pulls away.

“Could we try doing more?”

“Yeah,” Danny readily agrees. He takes a breath. “Uh, do you remember the first time we kissed?”

“You want me to promise I’ll let you know if I don’t like it or need to stop.”

Danny nods.

“I promise.”

Taking off his shirt, he takes Alex’s hands and puts them on his shoulders. “You can touch me. And when you’re ready, I’ll touch you. It doesn’t have to be tonight.”

They trade occasional kisses while Alex’s hands tentatively start to move.

…

He never tells Sara when he and Alex end going a little further than they have, but she always knows.

One night, he’s drinking firewhiskey with her and Pavel in the forbidden forest when she asks, “How far along are you with Alex?”

Shaking his head, he takes another drink. “You know I’m not going to talk about that.”

Pavel nods.

“Fair enough,” she agrees. “Only, you’re getting to do things you want, too, aren’t you? It isn’t just about him.”

“Better answer that, mate,” Pavel says.

“Yes, we’re doing things we both want,” he assures them. “Everything we do is something we both want. Alex isn’t like-” Not wanting to end up crying in his drink, he changes the subject. “Alex wants me to be happy just as much as I want him to be.”

“He’s going to need to eat with us, soon,” Pavel says. “It’s been over a year, and me and Sara have never had a full conversation with him.”

“I don’t know-”

“That wasn’t a suggestion,” Sara informs him. “Pavel’s right. Have him come over to the Hufflepuff table soon, or we’ll be dragging you to the Ravenclaw one.”

…

“So,” he tells Alex, “you know how insistent Sara and Pavel can be.”

“Yes.”

“Well, right now, they’re insisting that you join them at the Hufflepuff table soon.”

“Okay,” Alex agrees. “When would be best for the three of you?”

“You don’t mind?”

“No.”

…

He and Alex are actually studying for exams when Alex suddenly asks, “When you had sex- what exactly did that entail?”

Looking around to make sure no one is near the picnic table they’re sitting at, he quietly answers and watches Alex take in the words.

“Did you like it?”

Holding his finger up, Danny takes the time to gather the right words.

“For all he’s a jerk, I’m not accusing him of anything terrible. Looking back, I don’t think I was really as ready as I convinced myself I was. But that’s on me, not him. As for the rest- I really liked him, and I really wanted to make him happy, and I thought what we were doing was truly special. We were two kids. It was messy and a little scary and a little fun. If he hadn’t turned out to be such a jerk, the answer would be yes, I did. Now, I’m just- sort of sad that doing something that could have been so amazing is something I’ll always sort of regret.”

“Would you regret doing something like that with me?”

“No,” he automatically answers.

Alex studies him. “How can you answer so easily?”

“Because, I know you,” Danny answers. “Even if- I don’t like to think it, but there’s always a possibility we might not last. If that’s true, I still wouldn’t regret it. You’re special, and whatever might happen in the future, right now, you care about me just as much as I do you.”

“If your soulmate arrives?”

Feeling a sense of something he can’t quite explain, he manages to smile. “I’m not waiting for someone else to come along, Alex. It’s just you. You’re the one I dream of, you’re the one I want when you’re not around, and you’re the one I’m thinking of when we’re together.” He shrugs. “Maybe you’re right about soulmates not existing. Maybe mine just died or couldn’t wait around for me for some reason. But whatever it is, there aren’t any guarantees, yeah? So, let’s go with: We’re good together.”

Maybe you’re my soulmate, he can’t help but think.

He’s never been so lucky in his entire life, and he doubts he ever will be.

“I’d like to.”

Snapping his head, Danny stares for a long moment.

“That’s- that’s a big step. I’m definitely not saying I don’t want-”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.”

Danny still can’t see anyone, but he puts a silencing charm around them just in case someone does happen to wander by. Taking Alex’s hand, he asks, “What have you been thinking about? Specifically?”

“It’s not exactly the same. What he did, I’d want you to do that.”

Thinking about it causes him to have some reactions he’s hoping the picnic table will hide in the event of anyone walking by.

“Danny?”

“Sorry, I was just caught up in imagining- You do understand that it might hurt? I mean, I know what to do, and I swear, I’d try to make sure it didn’t, but him and me, it was only one time. I’ve never gone that far with anyone else. It could be unpleasant for you.”

“Then, we can learn how to make it better in the future.”

He kisses Alex. “If you’re sure, of course, I want it. We’d better talk some more before we try anything, though. Let’s give it a few days, and then, if you still feel the same, we’ll start figuring out when and where and what all we need to do.”

“Okay,” Alex agrees.

…

Danny drags Pavel up to the astronomy after lights out. “Just so you know, I’m going to talk to both you and Sara, and none of us are going to particularly like it. I’m only subjecting you to this, first, because she’s still stewing over that detention she got in History of Magic.”

Pavel nods.

“Also, you know I don’t talk about private things me and Alex do, and I need you to promise, if I do, you won’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t,” Pavel says. “If this is about your knees, though, I kind of assumed when you stopped showing up with skinned ones that you’d taken my hint and-”

“Not about that,” Danny quickly declares.

Pavel waits.

“What I did last year- Alex and I might do it together. Only,” he gropes for the word. “God, I’m going to hate saying it this way,” he mutters. “Neither of us is a girl, but you’ve been with girls before. Could you, maybe, tell me what it was like on your end?”

“Has Alex ever done it?”

Danny shakes his head.

“Well, I’ve never done it with a virgin. But- you know the basics of the act. Go slow and pay very close attention to how he handles everything. Obviously, if he tells you to stop, stop, but if there’s a little pain and he’s fine with it- from what I know, some people only feel it the first time or two.”

Gratefully, he says, “Thanks, Pavel.”

Wrapping his arms around him, Pavel says, “Fair warning: If he ends up hurting you, he’ll definitely learn what real pain is all about.”

“I know,” he says. “But he won’t.”

…

Sara’s response is to hand him an enchanted tent and a box of toiletries. “Use plenty of the red bottle,” she tells him. “Trust me, it’s better to use too much than not enough. Pavel’s already made it clear what’ll happen if Alex hurts you, right?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he softly tells her.

She kisses him. “I really hope it’s special for you this time.”

…

On a Saturday night, he and Alex set up the tent in the school’s broom shed.

…

After clean up, Danny’s heart is calm, but he can feel every beat it can takes.

Alex gives him a sleepy smile.

Easing himself down, he curls up against Alex and puts his hand over Alex’s heart.

“Thank you,” Alex tells him.

“Thank you,” he says. “Was- was it good for you?”

“Very,” Alex murmurs through a yawn. “Was it for you?”

“I don’t think I can actually explain just how good,” he answers.

He drifts into sleep with Alex’s warm, welcoming weight next to him.

...

Sara is knocked out during a match against Ravenclaw.

Madam Pomfrey assures everyone she’ll wake up in a few days, a week at most, but he and Pavel take turns sitting with her in the hospital wing.

“Here,” Alex says. He sets down a slice of Danny’s favourite pie.

“You’re the best,” Danny blearily declares. Yawning, he sits up straighter. “Thank you. I’m sorry I missed your chess match. I know how important it was. Hopefully, I can make it up-”

“Danny,” Alex interrupts. Sitting down, he hands him a fork. “I understand.”

“Thank you,” he repeats.

“Is there any change?”

“I can’t be sure, but I think the movement under her eyes was different a little earlier.” He shakes his head. “She’s been playing for three years, and this has to happen now. The worst she’s had before was that time Pavel broke her back and left pinkie toe.”

Danny understands how the back breaking happened, but no one has ever been able to explain the toe.

“Will her parents come?”

“No, and if they did, Pavel would handle it.” Seeing Alex’s look, he explains, “Both her parents are magic, but technically, Sara’s half-blood. She comes from a largely muggle family. Most of them don’t know about her. Her mum is too busy with cheering charms to pay much attention to her, and her dad- mine would win father of the year compared to him. She has a brother, but he left as soon as he turned seventeen and never returned any of her owls.”

“She’s lucky she found you and Pavel.”

“I can’t speak for Pavel, but I’m the lucky one. I was an eleven-year-old muggle-born trying to make my away around the Hogwarts express all by myself, and some older boys surrounded me and started talking about doing things to me. She was nearby and stepped in. At first, she didn’t really want me around, but I was so desperate- I kept following her around.”

Smiling, he leans down and kisses her forehead.

“I love you.”

It takes him a minute, and when the words register, he’s not sure if he imagined them or not.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Alex continues. “I just felt you should know. I likely could have picked a better ti-”

Getting up, Danny hugs him. “I love you, too.”

… 

When the term comes close to an end, Danny finds himself wondering how to bring up what he’s been thinking about.

He and Alex are walking outside when he finally brings himself to say, “This might come out wrong, and if so, I apologise in advance. Three months can be a long time. I love you, and I only want to be with you. That being said, you’ve never even gone on a date or kissed anyone else. So, if you happened to find yourself interested in someone else during the summer, that would be fine. Because, otherwise, how can you know?”

“How can you?”

Alex’s voice is calm, but there’s an undercurrent.

“Because I’ve done a lot of things with a lot of different people,” he answers.

“I don’t want to. I don’t need to,” Alex insists.

Danny stops and looks at him. “Hey,” he says. “Look at me.”

Alex does, and Danny’s heart twists at the sight of tears in Alex’s eyes.

Keeping his voice soft, he says, “Okay. I only meant- I’m sorry for hurting you. I didn’t mean to. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, and I promise I won’t. I just thought I’d try to give you the option.”

Alex shakes his head and pulls Danny into a hug. “Only you,” he murmurs.

Danny holds him. “You’re the only one I want, too.”

…

“Danny,” his mum calls. “That blasted owl is here!”

Sighing, he gets out of bed and comes into the kitchen. “At least he’s stopped-”

“Just take him,” she orders. “The way he looks at me and your father…”

He takes Darby, gives him a skeletal treat, and curls up on the bed to read Alex’s letter.  


End file.
